Sunday, October 25, 2009

I've been in a reading slump the past couple of weeks, but that hasn't stopped me from adding to my already-overflowing bookshelves. My library had their annual book sale last week; it was the first time I've attended and, although it was CRAZY crowded and therefore difficult to browse, I did end up with 5 new additions. The other newbies I've picked up came from one of our local Goodwill stores. I love book shopping there because you never know what you'll find. Sometimes I walk out with just 1 or 2 items, but other times I get an armload. I like to think of it as a bookaholic treasure hunt.

These are both hardbacks and appear to be brand new. On Beauty was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2005 and nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2006. Both titles are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

Probably the best-known work by Grass, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. The movie version won a number of awards in 1979, including the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The novel was originally published in German in 1959 and is included on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

Monday, October 19, 2009

I'm in a complete reading slump this week. I haven't picked up a book since last Wednesday. There's still at least a dozen books I need to finish for my challenges but I'm seriously doubting whether that'll happen. I've let the challenges become a chore and I'm not enjoying my reading very much these days, but I hate to quit a project, especially for those that I'm so close to finishing. Maybe if I read something just for fun and cleanse the mental palate (so to speak), then come back to the others? It's an idea.

One of many awesome challenges hosted by Becky at Becky's Book Reviews. As you would guess, the challenge was to read a book for each letter of the alphabet. You could do it by title, by author, or both. I went with author.

Rather than repost all 26 titles and links to my reviews, I'll just tell you to check out my original post here.

Synopsis (from B&N): "One of the founders of literary naturalism, Émile Zola thought of his novels as a form of scientific research into the effects of heredity and environment. He created characters, gave them richly detailed histories, and placed them in carefully observed, precisely described environments, and his readers watch as they wriggle and thrash toward their inevitable destinies.

In Nana, the characters are a prostitute, who rises from the streets to become what Zola calls a 'high-class cocotte,' and the men — and women — whom she loves, betrays, and destroys. Among the novel’s many ironies is the mutual envy felt by Nana and those around her. She yearns for their material possessions, while they admire her apparent independence and sexual self-confidence. And despite the chaos Nana causes, Zola imagines her as being essentially 'good-natured,' a stupid, vain but beautiful creature who can’t help drawing people into her web.

Not surprisingly, Nana’s portrait of a decadent world in which a prostitute amasses great wealth and power provoked protests from 'polite society,' and it became one of Zola’s most controversial works. Today it is regarded as his masterpiece."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: I liked this book immensely even though I didn't like any of the characters. They're just so well-written and fully three-dimensional; you can't help being awed by the author's talent, despite the fact that you wouldn't want to spend 10 minutes with anybody in the book. This was hard for me because I always want to like at least the central character, or if not like her, at least root for her. You can't do that here. There's so much wrong with this girl, she's so self-centered and lacking in normal human emotions that you want to slap her. And that makes you dislike the other characters even more when they're fawning all over her.

I can also understand why this book was controversial. Nana sleeps with anyone and everyone, and while the book does describe these encounters per se, it must have been quite shocking to 19th century readers. All of the characters are completely lacking in morals, including the "pillars of society." The author presents an unflattering view of society in general; I can't imagine the author was invited to dinner in certain quarters after this was published.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Synopsis (from B&N): "British historian Waller reveals how Mary and Anne slipped the English throne out from under their father James II and delivered it to William of Orange while their infant brother, the rightful heir, was still alive, thus replacing the natural order of succession with an elective monarchy."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I want to find something good in every book I read, but this one put that intention to the test. I love history and, purely by coincidence, this one continues the story told in Royal Charles, which I just finished. But I found this book very frustrating.

The book begins with separate chapters for each of the major persons involved; since their stories overlap, this results in the author repeating information unnecessarily. Next, there is a great too much supposition as to what a person "must have felt" or what "may have been" without reference to historical documents to back up the opinions. There are some quotes from documents but they are limited to mostly unimportant sections of letters full of terrible spelling (the royal daughters did not receive any education to speak of) and the reader has to struggle to understand what was meant.

And then there is the problem of names. The nobility had surnames but then also had their titles; for instance, one of the King's mistresses was Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth. It was common to refer to them by their title; Louise was generally referred to as "Portsmouth." Here, the author continually alternates how she refers to an individual, causing the reader to have to stop and figure out who she's talking about. This is very disruptive and could easily have been avoided by footnotes explaining that "so-and-so will hereafter be referred to as X."

The story itself reads like a soap opera, full of intrigue, deception, and greed. The current royal family have nothing on their ancestors. But while I found the story highly interesting, this book simply has too many problems. My conclusion is that it is just average and I'll be looking at other authors for books in the future.

Synopsis (from B&N): "The collection that established O’Connor’s reputation as one of the American masters of the short story. The volume contains the celebrated title story, a tale of the murderous fugitive The Misfit, as well as “The Displaced Person” and eight other stories."

The other stories contained are: The River; The Life You Save May Be Your Own; A Stroke of Good Fortune; A Temple of the Holy Ghost; The Artificial Ni**er (this is not the actual title, but I will not use that word, even in telling the name of a story); A Circle in the Fire; A Late Encounter with the Enemy; and Good Country People

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: These are not stories to make you feel warm and fuzzy. The overarching theme seems to be "People are no damned good" and each story supports that idea in a different way. This is not to say that the stories are not good -- they're very good, they just don't make you feel good. But they're well-written and solid, and the author does an amazing job of capturing ordinary rural Southerners of the time. I grew up in the South and many of the book's characters could have been mirror-images of some of the old people I knew. Their manner of speaking, the actual words used, the way they carried themselves, everything. It's kind of spooky, actually, how accurate the author was, but that also tells you something of how good a writer she was.

Challenges: 999 ("Booker/National Book Awards"); A to Z (author "O"); Modern Library; National Book Award Project (1956 nominee)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Alyce at At Home with Books has 4 excellent titles up for grabs in October. Available are Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (paperback advance copy); The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (hardcover); Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (trade paperback); and Alex & Me by Irene M. Pepperberg (paperback advance copy). All are gently used. Contest open until October 29, U.S. and Canada only.

Julie P. at Booking Mama has a copy of The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. Contest open until October 6, U.S. and Canada only.

Kristi at Books and Needlepoint is giving away 5 copies of Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. Contest open until October 16, U.S. and Canada only.